


Making Fools of us All

by Lt_Kickbutt



Series: Climbing the Ladder [8]
Category: RWBY
Genre: F/M, Heist, Kidnapping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-14
Updated: 2016-03-14
Packaged: 2018-05-26 15:38:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6245527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lt_Kickbutt/pseuds/Lt_Kickbutt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Roman and Neo have another job to steal a rare dust crystal, but there is only one girl fast enough to help them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Birthday Celebration

**Author's Note:**

> I know I've already done a heist before and I hope no one minds all too much. There are unique settings and plots in the works for our criminal duo.
> 
> Edit: This story is part 7 of the series, for some reason it posted twice (might have been me) but this is part 7 you didn't miss a part.

“Hurry up Ruby. Pyrrha is bringing Jaune to the party in twenty minutes! Everyone is here, what is taking you so long?” Ruby Rose paced quickly down the lit sidewalk in Vale speaking into her scroll in her hand, a wrapped gift in the other, Crescent Rose at her back, and her hood around her shoulders.

“Ooof! Sorry, sorry, sorry! I’m coming right now. Goodwhich had me stay after class, and then I had to find the perfect gift for Jaune. I need to start running, I’m hanging up now!” Ruby folded her scroll in her hand and tucked it away. Peering far ahead of her she determined the best route to sprint away. Smirking Ruby flexed her muscles and wound up to activate her semblance but fumbled when she noticed a pair of feet struggling from behind an alley.

Regaining her focus Ruby sprinted to the entrance of the alley. There was a small, light skinned girl with black pigtails pinned to the ground by a man in a black trench coat and ball cap. Gagging her arms flailed and she kicked the air violently as the man had his hands around her throat. 

Crescent Rose unfolded loudly as Ruby yelled out, “Get off of her!” The man remained with hands around the girl’s throat and Ruby launched herself to make a swing at his head. Ducking at the perfect moment Ruby missed her mark which left her off balance with the attacker directly in front of her.

Turning his head around he let go of the girl with a wide grin, “Hiya Red.” Jumping off of the pinned girl Roman grabbed her wrists and fell on top of her. The two wrestled with Crescent Rose as Ruby fired shots into the side of the building. Working to pin her weapon under his arm Roman’s hands moved to Ruby’s throat and grabbed a hold, choking the breath out of her.

Ruby started kicking and Neo jumped on top of Ruby’s feet trying to pin them down. Doubling her efforts to get Roman off of her Ruby franticly kicked at Neo’s hands grabbing her legs. Managing one leg free Ruby kicked her heel into the face of Neo repeatedly. After two or so solid kicks to the face Neo glared, stood up, and walked towards Ruby’s head. With Ruby’s vision fading to black Neo bent over Ruby with her off colored eyes and kicked her across the jaw knocking the hooded girl out cold.

“I almost had her!” Neo rolled her eyes with disdain as she checked her own face with her hand. “Sorry about that, your way worked well.” Roman picked up the unconscious Ruby and threw her over his shoulder.

 Smiling at her partner with a blush Neo put her hands around her own throat faking choking noises with her tongue out slightly before she fanned off her cheeks. With Ruby over his shoulder Roman leaned in close to Neo. “I’m such a tease…” his voice trailed off into a sigh he exhaled into the lips of his partner. She breathed in Roman’s lust and her face went bright red. “Let’s try that again some time.”

Roman adjusted Ruby back up properly on his shoulder and carried her to the car while Neo grabbed Crescent Rose and the wrapped gift Ruby set down outside the alley before attacking. Shoving Ruby into the back seat the partners in crime climbed into the front. Roman started the car while Neo examined the gift.

“Are you going to open it?” Neo shrugged and read the gift tag. Excitedly she held the tag up to Roman: _To Jaune, From Ruby._

“It’s our good friend Jaune’s birthday!? And no invite.” With a glance back at the softly breathing Ruby Roman continued, “That gives me an idea.”


	2. Rose Racer

Slapping Ruby awake Roman offered her a drink of water with a smile. Looking around they were in a large, dark room with a dimly lit hallway behind Roman. The dim light illuminated the corners and the room’s unpainted concrete walls made her heart sink. Ruby tugged at her wrists and ankles which were both bound by zip ties.

“Go on then. It’s been a while since your last drink.” Smacking her lips they adhered together, and Ruby licked the chaffed bits of skin but her tongue offered no relief.

“How long have I been asleep?” Ruby’s raspy voice prompted Roman to offer the water again, and Ruby reached out to the straw with her tongue and drank greedily, staring at Roman’s shaved head.

“Almost made it to five full days.” Ignoring her staring Roman pulled a syringe out of his coat pocket and shook it in front of her face, “We’ve been keeping you out. Had you hooked up to an IV and everything.” Roman glanced at Ruby’s elbow who noticed the bandage on the inside of her arm. She flexed and the arm sorely ached. Ruby’s hair was a complete mess and she turned her head and sniffed. Scrunching her face the odor corroborated Roman’s story, unable to remember a time in her life she smelled so badly.

“What do you want from me?!” Ruby’s eyes turned to a glare but her demand was interrupted by a loud clang, the room fell silent as the dim lights went out and were quickly replaced by red emergency lighting.

“It’s time to go to work Red. Look here” Roman held up her scroll, playing on the screen was video of Jaune bound and tied to a chair with Neo sitting on his lap, camera pointed back at the pair. She had a big smile on when Roman spoke into the microphone, “Great work Neo. Now remember, if I’m not back there in the hour, give Jaune the last birthday present he’ll ever receive.

 “Jaune! Say something! Where did they-“ Roman stopped her sentence short as he pocketed the scroll and ended the feed. Ruby turned her attention back to Roman and whispered “Don’t hurt him. What do you need me to do?”

“Oh Red…I feel for you. When you disappeared they all came looking for you, they looked everywhere, but we hid you well. After a couple days they split up to cover more ground, and poor Jaune stumbled right into our trap. But we won’t hurt him unless we have to. We love our Jaune. And here’s what you can do to make sure that doesn’t happen.” Roman pulled out shears to clip the zip ties and went around behind Ruby, “Right now we’re in the basement of Vale Public History Museum. Down this hall are the newest and rarest artifacts in the entire museum. There is one I need you to steal. A bright blue dust crystal, it’s going to be brighter than any you’ve seen before, you can’t miss it.”

“Why couldn’t you or that quiet girl go and get it?” Ruby asked waiting to be freed.

“When the power was cut the laser trip wires were disabled, but the room has a backup system in the floor. If a moderate amount of pressure is placed on the floor while the power if off it will cause a lock down, but there is a glitch, the system needs a fifth of a second of continuous pressure in the same spot to trip the system” Ruby’s eyes widened as she woahed in amazement, “so what we need is someone really fast, who can keep moving before they trip the system.”

“My semblance…”

“Right! So run down that hall, find the crystal on one of the shelves, don’t slow down now, and then return here. If we get out of here with the dust and without setting off the alarm I will return your scroll, return your crazy scythe, and let Jaune go. Do you accept?”

“Cut me loose.” Ruby gave an evil grin as the ties were snapped. Standing up Ruby stretched out her sore muscles. The small girl bent her body back and forth, joints cracking. Continuing with a handful of jumping jacks and a short jog in place Ruby psyched herself up.

“Come on Red, you’re enjoying this too much.”

“Time me.”

“I…what? You’re joking right?”

Ruby set herself down as if she were an Olympic runner, “Time me. On the scroll.”

Roman scoffed as he tapped on the scroll but watching Ruby get excited put him in a good mood, “Hailing from Patch, representing Haven, the Rose Racer herself, Ruby Rose! On your marks. Get set. Go!” With a powerful whoosh Ruby was gone in a gust of rose petals. Watching the clock count up to ten Roman let out a sigh of relief, the alarm had not gone off yet.

Down the hall Ruby’s mind tried to keep up with her feet. Unable to discern any specific item at this speed she searched for the glint of a blue dust crystal. Forty seconds passed as she had gone through all the isles and was now back tracking in a panic. Unable to slow she zipped back and forth barely catching herself from flying into walls. In an unexplored nook she spotted the crystal, it illuminated the entire room from the center. Holding a hand out when she ran passed Ruby missed her grip on the crystal. As it fell towards the floor Ruby swung back around in a panic and tried again, grabbing ahold of the rock before it hit the ground.

Back at the entrance Roman sweated it out as the clock climbed higher. Looking down the hall another time he couldn’t even spot Ruby who blew by him in a tornado of petals. Ruby tumbled to the ground, covered in sweat, chest heaving, holding out her prize.

Roman walked over and held his hand out to pick her up as she took it and stood up her legs wobbled like jello and she fell back into Roman’s hands. “Your time was forty-eight seconds and twenty-two milliseconds.” Roman snatched the crystal while Ruby recovered, she snarled in protest, but Roman threw Ruby her phone.

“Go ahead and call Jaune.” Roman walked Ruby to the stairwell and the nearest exit. Punching in the numbers Ruby paused when the two of them made it to the stairwell and she saw Neo standing at the top of the staircase with Crescent Rose and Ruby’s gift, still wrapped.

“Why aren’t you with Jaune?! What if something happens to him while you’re gone?!” Hitting send her phone dialed Jaune’s number. Jaune’s face popped up on the screen with a large amount of noise in the background.

“Jaune are you okay?!”

“Am I okay? Ruby where have you been? You missed the surprise thirty minutes ago! They got me good, maybe a little too good…” Ruby’s jaw dropped over the phone, she looked up at Roman and Neo who were looking down at her from the top of the stairs.

“It’s amazing the story a prick on the arm and a bag of dirty laundry can tell.”

“Are you with someone?” Jaune’s voice echoed in the empty stairwell through the scroll. “Ruby are you coming? The party is still on.”

“The party is still going…” Ruby stood dumbfounded on the phone, attempting the piece the story together. “But, my throat was so dry…”

“We stuffed your nose so you had to breathe through your mouth.” Ruby hung onto the railing completely stunned and exhausted. Neo stepped down the stairs and handed Ruby her weapon. Ruby hung up the phone and with a glare Ruby moved to swing Crescent Rose open, but it jammed, remaining collapsed. “We broke it, you didn’t need it for the heist anyway, but I’m sure you can fix it.

“You…tricked me.” Ruby’s face flushed red as she fell to her knees on the stairs. “How did you get that video you showed me?”

“You’ll have to ask Jaune when you get back.” Neo slid her arm under Roman’s and the pair walked arm in arm up the stairs. “You might want to leave before anyone shows up, Red.”

Exiting onto the street Roman lit a cigar and Neo rubbed the top of his shaved head, “I’m still not used to it” With a smirk Roman continued, “Stop trying to talk me into keeping it. You were right about that video though, it was a good idea to keep.” Neo leaned her head into Roman’s arm and the two walked to the car parked a safe distance away.


	3. Dirty Laundry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story I'm writing under the assumption that Yang believes Ruby believes they are full sisters and knows nothing about Raven. I believe that is cannon as of the end of chapter 3 but if anyone has the definitive answer I'd appreciate it

The party concluded without Ruby, she had refused to mingle, to drink, or play games. Any questioning on the matter got an uncharacteristically cruel glare and a simple answer, “We’re going to talk about it after the guests leave. Teams RWBY and JPRN.” The party didn’t last much longer after that but when the guests were gone and the food put away she gathered both teams to the dorm room.

“What’s the matter with you Ruby?! You ruined the mood and the party. What happened to you?” Weiss bluntly voiced her annoyance.

Jaune tried to calm down the room, “Don’t worry about the party, that’s fine. But Ruby, you called Yang and said you were on the way.”

“I was kidnapped. By Roman Torchwick and that girl he’s always with, Neo. The girl faked being attacked by Roman so I went to go help of course. When I got close they both jumped me, and knocked me out.”

A small noise came from Pyrrha’s mouth before she answered to cover it up, “Despicable. What did he do next?”

“Next thing I knew I woke up in some bunker looking place, with Roman. He convinced me that I had been knocked out for several days, he even went out of his way to make me smell the part.”

“Ohhh. That’s what that smell was when you got here.” Yang chuckled at her baby sister.

“It wasn’t funny!”

“Roman is just a harmless softie. It’s the other one you have to look out for.”

“What does that mean?” Ruby looked around the room to a flurry of reations. Most everyone was wide eyed, Yang was surprisingly cool, Pyrrha and Jaune were shaking like leaves.

“Jaune.” The blonde haired birthday boy jumped in his chair and Pyrrha smashed her palm into her face. “Torchwick spoke as if he knew you. He had a _video_ of you being tortured. It convinced me to _help_ him. What was that?!

“I…um…” Jaune looked to Pyrrha next to him, “We may have ran into trouble with Torchwick before too.”

“What?! Why didn’t you say anything!?” All eyes in the room were turned to Jaune and Pyrrha.

“Well…It was embarrassing, and we handled it alright. No one got…” Jaune looked to Pyrrha who had her sleeves scrunched into her hands staring down at her knees, “No one got hurt.”

“Okay. Enough. Tell us all now or something like what happen to _me_ might happen to the rest of us.” Jaune looked at Pyrrha and motioned her to go, and she shot him a look back.

“Someone just-!”

“He blackmailed me into throwing the Mistral Championship earlier this year!” Pyrrha snarled as she collected her thoughts. “Then, when I was going to get Jaune from them Roman Torchwick…Roman Torchwick…” Pyrrha’s face turned to a painful red blush, “He stripped me naked. To make sure we couldn’t pursue.” Pyrrha huddled with her thighs in her chair as she buried her face. Yang couldn’t contain the smile on her face and had to do an about face to hide it.

Noticing her sister Ruby continued the interrogation, “Yang. It sounded like you knew him just now. Did he ever get anything from you?”

“uhh-yep.” Casual as can be.

“Anything you want to share?”

“I helped him rob an armored truck just the other week.”

“Why did you do that?!?!” Ruby’s jaw dropped.

“Money.”

“MONEY?!” The room exploded in combined outrage causing Yang to cringe. She tried to hold her ground as the others questioned her validity as a huntress, her validity as their friend, until she finally cracked.

“ALRIGHT! It wasn’t for money. Roman had…something that I needed. It wasn’t money and I just can’t tell you guys.”

“Yang please. If it is this important it’s something Torchwick can use against us.”

Yang thought hard for the right phrasing, “It was a conversation. A recorded conversation that included Uncle Qrow. It had a lot of important details about me, but Ruby for your sake I don’t want to about them.”

The room fell silent as their closest friends shook out all their dirty laundry. No one could look at one another because of the things Roman Torchwick did, and the way he prayed on all of them.

“Well…I hope it was worth it.” Ruby whispered.

“Alright look.” Yang knelt down in front of Ruby on the bed, “I haven’t even listened to the damn thing. Not because I don’t want to either. After Roman gave me the flash drive with the recording I tried to take back the dust crystal he stole. I knocked him out but then Neo saved him, beat my ass good, and when she had me down…forced me to swallow the drive.”

Yang combed her hair nervously with her fingers as the rest of the room slowly figured out what she meant. She saw her friends all staring bug eyed and completed their thought for them, “So now every time I use the damn toilet I’m freaking if this is finally the time it’s going to pass. Of course I didn’t tell anyone this!”

“Okay…good?” Yang shot Ruby a glare who threw up her hands in defense, “I mean, thank you for letting us know. I’m sorry that happened. I’m sure we could get some lax-“ Yang let out a groan and covered her head with her arms.

“Okay! Has anyone else been forced into working with him?” The room fell silent again as the friends all stared each other down.

“Blake? Maybe something to do with the White Fang?”

“No. He hasn’t approached me.”

“Weiss? You are part of the wealthiest family in Remnant. He would surely try to get something from you.”

Weiss’ eyes narrowed to a glare before she answered, “No.” Rising from her bed she took command of the room, “I’ve had to deal with blackmailers, potential kidnappers, solicitors of all kinds my entire life Ruby. Roman Torchwick wouldn’t mess with me because he _can’t_ mess with me. I’m sorry this has happened to you all, but now we all know to be more careful.”

“Right, of course. Sorry Weiss.”

Weiss took her seat as Ruby asked Nora and Ren both if they had any trouble, with a shake of their heads Ruby finished what she wanted to say, “I know this was hard guys, I wish we could keep this a secret, but now that we know we won’t let Roman Torchwick, or anyone else, mess with us again.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, all comments, qualms, quandaries, and curse words below! 
> 
> Also did the twist get anyone?! It's the first time I've written anything I'd consider a twist so did it work? If anyone sees a hole in the logic please let me know, I want to get better.


End file.
